Chicago -- The Illinois attorney general accused the largest
distributor for Nutrition for Life International Inc., Houston,
of operating an illegal pyramid scheme.

In an Illinois state court, Attorney General Jim Ryan
alleged that Kevin M. Trudeau, Trudeau Marketing Group, Inc., and
sales distributor Jules Leib violated the state's consumer fraud
laws and failed to disclose relevant background information. The
suit alleges Mr. Trudeau and the other parties make money
recruiting sales representatives rather than selling products and
that Mr. Trudeau never disclosed past felony convictions and a
bankruptcy. The suit seeks a restraining order, permanent
injunctions and a $50,000 penalty.

Nutrition for Life, a marketer of nutritional supplements,
wasn't named as a defendant in the suit.

Both a Nutrition for Life spokesman and a spokeswoman for
Mr. Trudeau declined to comment, saying they hadn't see the suit.
Mr. Trudeau has said he is in compliance with all state
regulations.

This newspaper reported in January that Mr. Trudeau had been
convicted of larceny and credit-card fraud. Mr. Trudeau is the
top distributor of Nutrition for Life and the beneficial owner of
a 13% stake in the company.

Nutrition for Life has said its "executive" distribution
program is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange
Commission for possible securities law-violations. Mr. Trudeau
is a member of that program, although he has said he hasn't been
contacted by SEC officials.